In October 2013, a historic Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Philadelphia caught fire. The fire spread quickly, engulfing the church in a devastating, 4-alarm blaze.

Yet, even amidst the destruction, firefighters and parishioners alike were amazed to discover that the church’s wooden icons were unharmed.

“Not one of those pictures caught on fire; not the ones on the wall, not the ones on the stage, not one of them was damaged,” a veteran firefighter who fought the blaze told a local TV station in astonishment. “When it comes to fires, I’ve seen it all, but I’ve never seen nothing like this before.”

Read more about the fire and how you might be able to help the parish in this press release from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA.

Seraphim Danckaert is Director of Mission Advancement at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary. He holds an M.Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and is a Ph.D. candidate in theology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

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